Sernagiotto / Anselmi win thrilling opening race Competition102 GT4

Giorgio Sernagiotto and Luca Anselmi have won the exciting opening race of the 2016 Competition102 GT4 European Series at Monza. The Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4 drivers fought the entire race for position and came out on top. Ricardo van der Ende and Bernhard van Oranje were classified second with the Ekris M4 GT4 and finished ahead of team mates Simon Knap and Rob Severs. Villorba Corse’s Alessandro Fogliani and Patrick Zamparini won in the AM category.

Van der Ende started from pole position and entered the following chicane first. The Dutchman was chased by Hendrik Still and defended lap after lap until his rival made a brave pass. But the Sin R1 GT4 driver wasn’t able to pull away. Simon Knap, also driving an Ekris M4 GT4, followed Peter Terting in fourth position and made an attempt to challenge the PROsport Performance driver. But he couldn’t keep up and instead lost two places to Sernagiotto and Duncan Huisman who had started from fourteenth on the grid. When the pit window opened, allowing the teams to complete their mandatory pit stop, Huisman was attacking the Maserati driver but also had to look into his mirrors for Terting.

When all pit stops where completed, van Oranje, who took over from van der Ende, was leading the race. He soon got under attack from Mads Siljehaug. The driver part of the ‘Reiter Young Stars’ programme showed his speed, but went wide and made a short trip through the gravel trap. However, he did manage to rejoin the track in a spectacular way. It wasn’t an easy race for van Oranje for the remaining part of the race because Anselmi made two successful passes on Siljehaug and van Oranje for the lead of the race.

With just six minutes left the safety car went out for the stranded Maserati of Giuseppe Fascicolo. It fortunately didn’t take long before the drivers were unleashed. In the final two laps Anselmi was able to pull away, won the race and finished in front of Andreas Gülden, team mate of Still, and van Oranje who managed to take third. Van der Ende and van Oranje were promoted to second after Still and Gülden received a post race 30-second penalty for crossing the white line at the pit exit. Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport drivers Rob Severs and Simon Knap were ranked third, just ahead of reigning champions Jelle Beelen and Marcel Nooren, driving the Chevrolet Camaro GT4.

Alessandro Fogliani and Patrick Zamparini finished in fifth and first in the AM category while they started from 24th on the grid. The Villorba Corse drivers passed Jan Kasperlik and Dietmar Lackinger who finished second in their division. Polish drivers Piotr and Antoni Chodzen concluded the race in third.

Zamparini: “We are super happy with the win. Yesterday we haven’t been so lucky in qualifying, but today we had a quite nice pace. But the other cars competing in our category were not so far in front from us, so we could overtake and thanks to the safety car I could catch up with the others. Tomorrow we start a bit more in front and we’ll try to achieve the same.”

Anselmi was extremely happy to pass the finish line first: “It was a fantastic battle in my first race with a GT car, so taking victory feels incredible.” Team mate Zamparini added: “The start of the race was not very fast because of a problem with the air pressure. So it was hard staying in the middle of the ‘jungle’. But after another few laps the car felt really good and I could overtake. We switched drivers when we were in third position and Luca did a fantastic job to move up to first.”

The second race of the Competition102 GT4 European Series at Monza takes place on Sunday at 11:20 hr and will be streamed live at www.gt4series.com/live.

The Competition102 GT4 European Series consist of six rounds, held at premier race tracks in Europe and partnering top level GT or touring car championships except from the last round in Zandvoort where the GT4 category will be the main programme. The championship includes two endurance races and one round at a street course.

SRO Motorsports Group, architect of modern GT Racing

SRO Motorsports Group was founded by Stephane Ratel and has specialised in the promotion, support and organisation of many national and international motorsport series since 1995.

In 2016, SRO Motorsports Group will promote several championships and series, such as the Blancpain GT Series, including the iconic Total 24 hours of Spa, the British GT Championship, the Blancpain Sports Club with the GT Sports Club and the Ultracar Sports Club, the GT4 European Series and the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

SRO Motorsports Group runs also the SRO Race Centre by MMC, a high-level technical centre at the Paul Ricard Circuit in the south of France.

SRO has offices in London, Paris and Liège.

Pirelli, official tyre supplier

Pirelli is a tyre manufacturer and world leader in the automotive industry. It has an exclusive relationship with over 50 racing series worldwide, including Formula One.

Pirelli has a long and illustrious history in endurance racing, and has also claimed a huge variety of class wins in GT racing all over the world. The design of the new Pirelli GT tyres meets the needs of GT racing while maintaining the performance characteristics that endurance drivers have appreciated in the past. The slick tyres used for GT racing are branded Zero: just like the slicks that have become a central feature of Formula One. The name P Zero is used in the highest categories of motorsport such as GT racing.

Competition102, unique fuel for maximum performance

Competition102 is premium petrol with an octane number of 102. The unique high octane number of 102 (RON 102) and MON number of at least 90 ensures optimal performances. Competition102 is suitable for all petrol-powered vehicles: from classic (Formula 1) cars and normal passenger vehicles to cross motorcycles and high performance racing cars. Competition102 fuel is exclusively produced, stored and distributed by Salland Olie Maatschappij B.V. in the Netherlands. It’s available at over 60 petrol stations nationwide and is sold in 60-litre barrels.